It’s the stuff of nightmares: After an evening consuming with mates, a younger woman hails an Uber for what she thinks will likely be a protected trip dwelling. The driver sexually assaults her.
A Philadelphia woman alleges that’s what occurred to her in October 2017, in response to a civil lawsuit she has filed towards the ride-sharing firm and the driver.
Uber has disclosed it acquired almost 6,000 reviews of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, the fast improvement of Uber, Lyft, and different platform-based corporations within the sharing economic system continues to problem long-standing authorized approaches and regulatory schemes throughout the nation.
“The gist of the case is Uber promises safety,” stated J. Conor Corcoran, a Center City lawyer representing the woman. “The ride did get her from point A to point B, but it wasn’t safe. He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to take advantage of her without Uber’s facilitation.”
Uber’s promise, strengthened in promoting, company communications, and social media campaigns on the time, amounted to a guaranty on which the woman relied and the corporate didn’t ship, the lawsuit argues. It additionally contends that Uber didn’t do enough vetting of drivers because it was rising quickly and folks flocked to the platform to work.
An Uber spokesperson stated the corporate received’t touch upon pending litigation. Its attorneys haven’t but filed a solution to the go well with. Uber says it’s all the time working to enhance security for customers of its app however declined to speak about it on the report.
The ride-sharing firm previously required individuals who alleged sexual assault or harassment to submit their instances to binding arbitration, personal court-like hearings to settle disputes, and to stick to a nondisclosure settlement. But Uber modified that coverage in 2018 below strain from former workers and the general public and because it was making ready to make an preliminary public inventory providing.
Now, the corporate says, survivors are free to pursue claims in open courtroom in the event that they select. In December 2019, Uber issued the report detailing the 6,000 sexual-assault reviews it had dealt with, saying that it was “statistically, extremely rare” however that even one incident was “unacceptable.” Uber is scheduled to launch one other report on assaults by the tip of the 12 months.
Competitor ride-sharing firm Lyft issued its personal report in October, disclosing 4,158 reported sexual assaults from 2017 by 2019. It ended its obligatory arbitration requirement proper after Uber did.
On Oct. 6, 2017, the Philadelphia woman was with mates at Time restaurant and bar on Sansom Street and, about 2 a.m., used the Uber app on her smartphone to hail a trip to her North Philadelphia house about two miles away, the go well with says.
The driver got here into the restaurant to satisfy her and escort her to his automotive, the go well with says. He put her within the entrance seat, and she remembered nothing of the trip, it says. She stated she had been consuming however not sufficient to black out and believes the driver had drugged her drink contained in the restaurant.
The grievance says the woman awoke in her house the following morning with the driver standing over her.
She had a sexual-assault forensic examination performed and was interviewed by Philadelphia detectives, who additionally took a sheet and towel with semen samples on them, Corcoran stated. He added that she by no means heard again from police.
The Philadelphia Police Department didn’t reply to questions concerning the case, together with whether or not there’s an energetic investigation.
The woman, by her lawyer, declined to remark.
Uber has been shielded from authorized legal responsibility in lots of instances as a result of it classifies drivers as impartial contractors quite than workers, stated Adam F. Scales, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Camden who focuses on torts and insurance coverage regulation.
“They have maintained they’re just a platform that puts people together,” Scales stated. “Obviously reality has undermined that some.”
But even in instances the place judges rule drivers have the standing of worker, Uber has a “very strong” argument that “sexual assault, which is horrific, is not within the scope of duties of a driver” and the corporate can’t anticipate and be answerable for a person’s assault, Scales stated.
On the opposite hand, he stated, Uber could possibly be assessed damages whether it is proved that it didn’t do sufficient investigation of drivers earlier than they joined the app or for inadequate monitoring of them.
The go well with was initially filed in state courtroom in late September however was transferred to federal District Court on Oct. 5 at Uber’s request as a result of the events are from totally different states. The firm is headquartered in California, and it and its subsidiaries are integrated in Delaware.
In late October, Corcoran moved to have the federal decide ship the case again to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia as a result of the driver, who can also be a defendant, is a resident of the state the place the alleged actions happened.
There is not any deadline by which the decide should rule. The go well with doesn’t specify the financial damages the woman is in search of.